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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Photo a day – control your shutter speed Joe

Oh damn – nothing pisses me off more than a missed shot. I had my Nikon with a fast 17 to 35 set Nikkor lens in my hand as I walked by this homeless man. I snapped a picture from my hip, which I am getting quite good at, and walked on down the street. When I stopped to review a few pictures, I found this blurry mess. I actually said the words, use your shutter speed Joe.

I was shooting in aperture priority mode. I shot a maximum depth of field shot a few minutes before this shot and forgot to flip back over to my trusty .250 shutter priority mode. The results are a predictable mess.

I could lie to myself and say I like the results. What I wanted was the wrinkled skin of his hands counting his meager cache of coins and bills. What I got was a blurry mess. There is always next time, but for me the lesson is clear. Make sure I set myself up for a good shot by setting my camera to capture these fleeting movements.